YouTube | The Beauty Around Us

Deruyter Lake Getaway: Day 3

Thursday, June 30, was our last full day at DeRuyter Lake.

We watched the sun rise from our water’s edge dock.

We ate breakfast at Quincy Square Diner for the second day in a row. Bob ordered the Quincy omelet, same as the previous day. I ordered chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. Both meals were delicious.

Since our arrival at DeRuyter Lake, we have seen an elephant in a field on our daily drives into the village of DeRuyter. We stopped at the field this morning, and I took a picture of the elephant.

According to Syracuse.com “Concrete sculptor John P. Kennedy created the DeRuyter mastodon in 1992 when he was just starting to make life-like creatures out of foundation material. He’s since branched out into all sorts of critters, generally of the non-extinct variety…”

We visited two waterfalls in the morning. Delphi Falls is 4.2 miles from our Airbnb, and Chittenango Falls is located an additional 10 miles from Delphi Falls. This was our first visit to Delphi Falls and our second visit to Chittenango Falls.

We had a personal tour guide at Delphi Falls. A local woman stopped to talk with me, while I was waiting for Bob to complete his business in the port-a-john.

Delphi Falls County Park is located in Madison County, NY. The park used to be the home of a private person. The property was made into a park only recently. The house is still standing. The waterfall would have been visible from the backyard of the residence. Our “tour guide” walked with us the short distance to the waterfall.

Our first view of Delphi Falls
The falls trail was easily navigable.

Our “tour guide” took a picture of
Bob and me at Delphi Falls.

Chittenango Falls is located in Chittenango Falls State Park. The main attraction at Chittenango Falls State Park is its picturesque 167-foot waterfall.

We visited the top of the falls first. It is easy to see the top of the falls. Just walk from the parking area towards the Gorge Rd Bridge. Please note the footbridge at the end of the video. We hiked to that footbridge.

It is a bit more difficult to see the bottom of the falls. We hiked down hundreds of steps, descending 170 ft into the gorge.

This video shows the falls trail to the first overlook and the trail leading away from that overlook.

We hiked all the way down into the gorge.

The footbridge at the base of Chittenango Falls

View of Chittenango Falls from footbridge

As I wrote earlier this was our second visit to Chittenango Falls. We visited Chittenango Falls 5 years earlier on July 2, 2017. As shown in my blog post written about that day, the water gushing over that waterfall was impressive. The trail to the base of the waterfall was only partially open in 2017. During our second visit, there was much less water falling over the waterfall. We were able to hike down to the footbridge to view the waterfall at its base. I am glad that we were able to see Chittenango Falls from that vantage point. What a beautiful view!

Before returning to our Airbnb we stopped in the village of DeRuyter for lunch at the Coal Yard, where we enjoyed deluxe cheeseburgers and onion rings.

We returned to our Airbnb, after lunch, and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Bob played his ukulele often, while we were on vacation.

This is the dam at the north end of DeRuyter Lake.

We enjoyed the view across DeRuyter Lake.

This is an island in DeRuyter Lake (looking south).

We enjoyed watching the activity on the lake.

This is just some of the activity on the lake. We saw several kayaks, as well as a few people swimming in the lake.

Our three-night vacation at DeRuyter Lake was very nice. We would like to make a return trip one day to Airbnb “DeRuyter Lake NY House for 2 on Water’s Edge“.

There is one more blog post about this vacation, so don’t go away 🙂

Deruyter Lake Getaway: Day 2

We spent much of Wednesday, June 29, at Airbnb ”DeRuyter Lake NY House for 2 on Water’s Edge”.

I watched the sun rise from the comfort of our dock, taking a few pictures and videos as I did so.

Sunrise at Airbnb “DeRuyter Lake NY House for 2 on Water’s Edge”

The steam rising from the water made sunrise that much more special.

We showered and got dressed. The Airbnb has a small septic, so small that our hosts request passionately that we conserve water. The following notice was posted on the refrigerator:

“Every drop of water used to cook, clean, shower goes into a tiny septic system that has no leach field. We beg you to conserve! To help we have provided disposable eating utensils, face and body wipes and Castle Soap that can be safely used in be the lake! Yes, jump in the lake, lather up and rinse rather than fill the septic with shower run off.”

We didn’t bathe in the lake, but we were conscious of how much water we used during our 3-night stay.

We ate breakfast at Quincy Square Diner in the village of DeRuyter. Quincy Square Diner was across the street from where we ate dinner the precious day.

Breakfast Specials at Quincy Square Diner

We both ordered a Quincy Omelet with toast. Inside the omelets were cheese, sausage, ham, green peppers and onions. I didn’t want sausage in my omelet, so my portion of sausage was added to Bob’s omelet. I ordered a glass of orange juice, and Bob ordered coffee. Both meals were delicious; service was good. We overheard a conversation shortly after being seated. A man said it is coming up on a long weekend. Another man said “everyday is a weekend”. That remark made Bob and me chuckle. Retirement is wonderful; life is good!

We spent the day at the Airbnb generally doing nothing. It was a great day of relaxation. In no particular order, this is how we spent our day.

We did our Bing searches and solved the Wordle game of the day.

Bob played his ukulele.

We ate a picnic lunch at the table on our dock.
I took a nap for an hour.

I started reading a new Fern Michael’s novel “No Way Out”.

Relaxing at Airbnb “DeRuyter Lake NY House for 2 on Water’s Edge”

I shared this photograph on Facebook and had a couple people ask how I took this picture. I placed my Kindle Paperwhite E-Reader on the dock, snug against a railing. I opened my camera phone and, then, I propped my iPhone on my Kindle and flush against a railing. I sat down. Using the camera remote on my Apple watch, I took our picture.

We did leave the Airbnb a few times, after breakfast. We made two trips to the DeRuyter Lake General Store, located at the south end of the lake. The General Store is stocked with bait and tackle, camp firewood, ice, beverages, beer and wine coolers, ice cream, CBD oil and more. The General Store is where one goes to launch a boat and fill up with marine fuel. I believe kayaks can be rented there as well. I purchased a DeRuyter Lake long sleeve T-shirt on our first stop and two King Cones on our second stop. We drove to Heritage Hill Brewhouse for dinner.

We both ordered BBQ platters. The meals and service were good. The view from the Brewhouse was fantastic, too. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of the view. If you scroll through the Facebook page, though, you will see pictures of the view.

DeRuyter Lake Getaway: Day 1

We left home on Tuesday, June 28, around 6:30 am, en route DeRuyter Lake NY. DeRuyter Lake is located approximely 30 miles southeast of Syracuse.

We made two sightseeing stops on our way to DeRuyter Lake.

Our first stop was at Pratts Falls County Park in Pompey. There was a collection box for a $2.00 entrance fee at the entrance to the park.

Pratt’s Falls County Park was originally the site of Onondaga County’s first sawmill and flour mill.

The highlight of the park is Pratt’s Falls.

Located near the signage displayed in the picture shown above is the crest of Pratt’s Falls.

The best vantage point to view Pratt’s Falls is from the end of the Falls Trail.

We crossed under Falls Trail sign and followed the trail for a few steps. We came to a split in the trail. We took the trail to the left and hiked down some steps. If we had taken the trail to the right, we would have walked the entire 0.6 miles. We shaved off a few steps taking the trail to the left. I like to save hiking steps, whenever I can!

We hiked down and back up these steps,
while on the Pratt’s Falls Trail.

Here is a short video that I took, while at Pratt’s Falls.

Our second stop was at Tinker Falls in the Labrador Hollow Unique Area, located in Cortland County, NY.

There was merely a trickle of water
falling off the ledge at Tinkers Falls.

Here is a very short video clip that I took, while at Tinkers Falls. You can hear the water falling (what little there is!).

We arrived at Airbnb “DeRuyter Lake NY House for 2 on Water’s Edge” at 2:00 pm.

We let ourselves into the Airbnb with a key, the whereabouts of which our hosts had told us. Bob carried in everything from the car. There are steps down to the house, so I carried very little inside. I did make the beds, a full size bed and a queen size bed. We were told to bring pillows, sheets and blankets. Each bed was covered by a blanket and a bedspread. Each bed had four pillows. I took the blankets and bedspread off each bed and made them with the sheets we brought. I put pillowcases on two pillows for each bed. I folded the blankets and bedspreads and placed them, along with the extra pillows on the couch in the tiny loft at the top of the stairs. We left the pillows we brought from home in the car. I believe the request to bring our own bedding is a leftover from pandemic days. After settling in, we relaxed on the dock at water’s edge, enjoying the sunshine, cool breeze and the sound of lapping water.

At 5:00 pm we drove the short distance (~3 miles) to the village of DeRuyter. We went shopping for bath towels, which we had been instructed to bring with us. Unfortunately, we left our bath towels on a chair in the kitchen at home, necessitating the purchase of new towels. We stopped for snacks too. We stopped at Dollar Tree and Big M in the village of DeRuyter NY. The stores were right next to each other.

After shopping, we ate dinner at Shelly’s Restaurant. It was Taco Tuesday, and Shelly’s had Mexican and taco specials. We decided we didn’t want Mexican. Bob ordered a Grilled Buffalo Chicken sandwich with potato wedges. I ordered a turkey tomato melt with macaroni salad. Both meals were good; service was good too.

We spent rest of the evening at the Airbnb enjoying the lake views from our dock, but also from inside the house while watching TV.

Chincoteague VA Vacation (2nd post)

We got up around 6:00 am on Saturday, April 16th. We watched the sunrise.

We drove to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and rode our bicycles. We bicycled Wildlife Loop to Black Duck Trail to Woodland Trail, back on Black Duck Trail and finished Wildlife Loop. We rode 7.04 miles.

We saw a Snapping Turtle on a pond, while bicycling the Wildlife Loop.

Woodland Trail
This is the boardwalk to the pony overlook.

The highlight of our bicycle ride was ponies, lots of ponies, at the Woodland Trail pony overlook.

I took the next picture, while we were on the Black Duck Trail, returning to the Wildlife Loop.

We returned to AirBnb “Tranquil Shores” for a light lunch. We watched an episode of “Vera” on BritBox, a new streaming service that we purchased recently. I ended up taking a short nap.

Around 4:00 pm we drove to Ray’s Shanty, where we ate dinner. It was our first time eating dinner there. Bob ordered a prime rib dinner; I ordered a fried shrimp dinner. Both meals were delicious, and the service was excellent.

After dinner, we returned to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. We drove around the Wildlife Loop and then to the seashore and back. We saw egrets, one great blue heron, snapping turtles, and four deer a long ways off. I didn’t take any pictures, as I forgot to insert the memory card in my camera. I had taken the card out to upload pictures onto my iPad that I had taken that morning.

When we left the wildlife refuge, we drove downtown. We stopped briefly at Robert Reed Waterfront Park, where we went for a short walk. We, then, continued down Main Street to Beebe Road and made our way back to “Tranquil Shores” from there.

We watched another episode of “Vera”. It was around 9:15 pm, when that episode ended. We went to bed shortly thereafter.

Mid-Week Getaway: Day 2 – Aitch and Trough Creek State Park

The morning of Wednesday, March 23, we did some sightseeing. Our first stop was at Aitch, where an old railroad bed has been transformed into a fishing pier. We parked in the parking area and walked across the fishing pier.

I read that Aitch is a great place for birdwatching. We saw only seagulls.

Our second stop was at Copperas Rock in Trough Creek State Park. Copperas Rock is a large overhang along the Great Trough Creek. These rocks are located directly adjacent to the park road.

Copperas Rocks
The colors of this overhang are caused
by the weathering of the iron in the rocks.

Signs were present that warned of falling rocks.
This picture shows the 2001 Rock Fall at Copperas Rocks.

Our next stop was at the Balanced Rock Trail.

Balanced Rock is visible from the road
near the start of the Balanced Rock Trail.

Balanced Rock Trail Sign
This sign points the way to Balanced Rock.
The Balanced Rock Trail takes you over a suspension bridge
and past Rainbow Falls.

We walked over the Great Trough Creek, via a suspension bridge that moves as you walk across it.

It started to rain. We walked back over the bridge and returned to the car.

I photographed Bob, as he walked back over the suspension bridge.

We plan to make a return trip to the park tomorrow. The forecast is for better weather tomorrow morning and for most of the afternoon.

We left the park via forest roads and made our way to Mamie’s Cafe and Bakery in Martinsburg.

I like the mural on the side of Mamie’s Cafe.

Mamie’s Cafe was recommended to us by our Airbnb hosts. Bob ordered a toasted Reuben sandwich; I had a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Both sandwiches were served with a pickle and chips. We walked out of the cafe with homemade no bake cookies. This was a good recommendation. The food and service were excellent.

After lunch we returned to our Airbnb rental, where we stayed for rest of the afternoon and evening. How did we spend our afternoon and evening? Bob took a nap. I uploaded a few pictures to Facebook. I started reading a book on my Kindle. For dinner we ate leftover fried chicken, pasta salad and potato salad.

Corning NY Mid-Week Getaway: Day 2 – Buttermilk Falls

We spent three nights the week of October 17th in Corning, NY. I wrote about our first day here.

On October 20th we visited a covered bridge in Newfield, NY and then drove to Ithaca, NY.

Our first stop in Ithaca was at Buttermilk Falls State Park, where we parked in the lower parking lot. We have the NY State Empire Pass, so we did not have to pay an entrance fee.

Buttermilk Falls is visible from the parking lot.
This view is only a few feet away from the parking lot.

I walked down to the red barrier seen in the above photograph.

Buttermilk Falls, as viewed from near the red barrier

A bridge crosses over the creek.
I took this picture of Buttermilk Falls from that bridge.
Buttermilk Falls is 165 ft high.

There is a gorge trail on the right side of the waterfall. We walked up a very short way on the trail.

In addition to still pictures I took a couple videos that I sliced together and uploaded to YouTube.

We walked back our car and left for nearby Cascadilla Gorge (the subject of my next blog post).

Ohio Vacation Day 3 – Boston Mill Visitor Center (6/27/2021)

After our walk around Kendall Lake, we drove to the new Boston Mill Visitor Center. The visitor center is located at the southeast corner of Riverview and Boston Mills roads in the Village of Boston in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

I was attempting to take a selfie at this location,
as we were walking to the Boston Mill Visitor Center.
A fellow visitor asked if we wanted her to take our picture.
I said yes and thank you.

The original function of the Boston Mill Visitor Center building was a general store that was constructed in 1905 for the Cleveland-Akron Bag Company.

The new visitor center opened on October 25, 2019. The Boston Mill Visitor Center serves as a central, one-stop resource for visitors to plan their journeys in the national park and Ohio & Erie Canalway. The visitor center includes the main visitor center building (displayed above) and two smaller buildings nearby, which serve as public restrooms and office space. An outdoor pavilion and courtyard provide visitors with park information and resources 24/7, while indoor exhibits orient visitors to the park and its geography, natural resources, history, and surrounding areas.

The Boston Mill Station is located near the visitor center. We watched the 11:45am train arrive and leave the train station.

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Train approaching Boston Mill Station

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Train at Boston Mill Station

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Train departs Boston Mill Station

We see this train often, when in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. So far we have not ridden the train. Some day we hope to ride the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Train on its National Park Scenic Excursion.

We ate lunch at Fisher’s Cafe and Pub in Peninsula. It was our first time eating there. We have passed by this restaurant many times, while on other trips to this area. I always thought we should eat there sometime. “Sometime” was today. Bob ordered a Yellow Fin Wrap (Medium Rare Caribbean & Cajun Seasoned Yellow Fin Tuna, Wrapped with Romaine Lettuce. Thai Rice, Kung Fu Teriyaki Sauce on the Side) with potato salad. I ordered beer-battered fish and potato salad. Our meals were delicious and filling; our waitress was attentive.

Please return for a blog post about our visit to Brandywine Falls, also on Day 3 of our Ohio vacation. I hope to publish that blog post tomorrow.